Queen And Adam Lambert: Take Your Breath Away At O2 London
Regular readers of the Inquisitr know that Queen and Adam Lambert finally kicked off the European leg of their tour this week. Shows earlier this week in Newcastle and in Glasgow earned rave reviews from critics and fans who were lucky enough to see the performances. Queen tried to replace the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury in the past, for example with Paul Rogers, but things just did not feel right. The addition of 2009 American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert has a totally different feel. Indeed, it is Lambert who is drawing the plaudits.
After this weeks show in Glasgow, the Evening Times was full of praise for Lambert, saying, “Adam Lambert is a revelation, dancing, strutting and grinding his way through a note perfect performance.”
After the show in Newcastle, the Guardian agreed, proclaiming, “This show succeeds because of Adam Lambert, not despite him.”
Last night, the show rolled into London, to the enormous O2 arena to be precise, for the first time since Lambert confounded the critics with his incredible performance at the New Year’s Eve “Big Ben Live” extravaganza. Once again, the show received five star reviews, and once again, Lambert was hailed as the star of the show.
Entertainment Wise pointed out that replacing a frontman like Mercury is a near impossible task, but admitted, “After watching two hours of solid hits, costume changes and amazing vocals, we can safely say that Lambert was the perfect choice to take on such a role.”
They were gushing in their praise of both Queen and Adam Lambert, saying, “Queen’s Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor may be a lot older than the 32-year-old, who shot to fame on US talent show American Idol, but the group managed to gel perfectly and not only did the singer manage to nail the vocals, he also rocked all the iconic Queen outfits, as well as engaging with the crowd in between songs – a true entertainer.”
Lambert has made it absolutely clear that he has no interest in pretending to be Freddie Mercury or in being some kind of Freddie tribute act. He told the audience, “There will only be one Freddie Mercury, ever,” and he meant it. He even sang a duet with a video of Freddie during the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE7Zc203GEs
The Daily Record said today that Queen’s show “was really special, a proper spectacular in every sense of the word and it was all down to one man. Adam Lambert.”
“If he’d just tried to do a Freddie impersonation it would have been awful but the American singer was firmly his own man, with a charisma and star quality that couldn’t be denied. Lambert stole the show, helped in no small part by that incredible voice. Make no mistake, technically speaking alone, this guy leaves pretty much everyone in the dust. Seriously. He’s that good.”
Lambert took to Twitter to tell his fans how much he was looking forward to the London shows, saying that he was ready to party, and party they did, Lambert, Queen, the critics and the fans had a ball as they worked their way through two hours of hit after hit after hit.
Excited for our first of two London 02 shows tonight!!! @QueenWillRock ! Ready to party!
— ADAM LAMBERT (@adamlambert) January 17, 2015
It is true that Lambert is not Freddie Mercury, but he doesn’t want to be. You can be sure that Adam Lambert is pushing his career to new heights. Adam did Freddie proud last night, and we think that if Freddie had been in the audience, he would now be an Adam Lambert fan.
[image – Gigwise.com]
